Change Means You Learn
by JoWashington
Summary: Being sent off on a mission is nothing new to the Young Justice team. But what happens during the mission changes everything the team is familiar with... Two of their teammates in particular...
1. Chapter 1

I own Nothing, Not the Avengers, who are owned by Stan Lee and Marvel Comics, and I definitely do not own anything in the DC universe! All of which belongs to DC Comics and its creators! I own nothing except the plot! Please, no pitchforks or lawyers necessary!

YJ and Avengers...

Artemis and Super Boy/ Conner Kent

"How is this happening?!" Aqualad demanded there was an open portal and there was a huge vortex that was drawing them closer towards it.

Apparently not enough was done on their parts to stop them from getting closer to its horizon. Apparently, nothing was enough, and the portal would not be satisfied until it had a living body within its 'mouth'.

Artemis lost her grip on one of the pillars she was grasping desperately and she was dragged through the air towards the portal. Super Boy reached out to grab her, only to lose his grip as well as he had reached out with the hand he was using to secure himself to the floor, with his other hand he using to hold the Quantum Tympanic Generator and was pulled in. At the last second however, he hurled the Generator at Aqualad, as he and Artemis entered the event horizon.

"Super Boy!"

"Artemis!" Were the panicked yells from the remaining Young Justice members.

But apparently, the portal was satisfied with its meal, because it closed immediately, leaving the Young Justice team without two of its members.

M'gann was in tears, Zatanna was shaken, Aqualad was dazed, and Robin was shocked. The only one who seemed unaffected was Kid Flash. When They heard a: 'whssh', followed by a beeping, they turned to stare incredulously at their teammate, who was typing in commands to a keyboard connected to a station that was thoroughly bolted to the floor and wall.

He pulled a flash drive from the compartment on his wrist and with a few more keystrokes, removed the flash drive and turned to his emotionally wrecked teammates.

"How Can You Be Calm?!" M'gann demanded. "C-Super Boy and Artemis are GONE!"

The others were faring similarly. Aqualad, however, took the lead as he always did.

"We can place blame later; in the mean time, let us take the generator to Batman and then report our missing teammates." He cast a concerned look at the place where they had last seen their teammates. His gaze took in the room which was decimated from the portal, the pillar where Artemis had desperately clung to before her grip became not enough, the place where Super Boy had dug in his fingers to prevent a backward slide into the portal. He distinctly remembered the look on Super Boy's face when he realized that they were getting pulled into the event horizon of the portal to throw the Generator at him in a last ditch effort to save the mission.

"And have him bring Dr. Fate with him." Kid Flash spoke up from where he was being almost filleted by Miss Martian and Robin.

"Why bring Dr. Fate?" Zatanna asked, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"Because I downloaded the specs on the device they used to open the portal. They opened it remotely, so it was a trap…" Kid Flash said quickly, Miss M was exceedingly scary when someone she cared for was threatened. "But we need to be able to access Super Boy and Artemis' unique bio-electric signatures, and, since we have no idea which dimension they are in, it would be best to have someone uniquely able to find out where they landed and how to get them back."

They were used to Kid Flash being logical. But they weren't used to losing teammates, so the unique was thought that their lost teammates were fine, until they were brought home was a welcome thought, even if it was delayed.

With M'gann's help, Aqualad was able to get the Generator on board the bio-ship, where he requested that Batman meet them in their Headquarters, and that he bring Dr. Fate, and when Aqualad paused, he added as an afterthought, to bring Black Canary as well.

Batman's eyes viewed the team through the view screen taking in the fact that there were two empty seats and that his young espionage squad of heroes, was greatly distraught.

"Agreed." Batman stated, and he shut down his side of the connection.

* * *

It took them well over six days to locate Super Boy and Artemis as well as creating a stable portal which wouldn't suck in any members of either Universe.

As the portal opened, M'gann tried to establish a mental link with her boyfriend, but only got static, at which she got increasingly paranoid.

Several minutes later, Super Boy and Artemis emerged…

Super Boy's usual crime fighting outfit had changed completely. He was wearing a tight Red and Blue uniform, red pants with a white stripe, which were tucked into his usual black combat boots; The 'pants' were complete with small black waist packs, in a utility belt formation, a blue top which was formfitting and covered to just beneath his chin resembling scales. The shield his red 'S' was on was white and it was surrounded by the blue 'scales' of his blue 'shirt'. The uniform was completed with a black leather 'bomber' jacket, red fingerless gloves, a white 'S' for Super embossed on the back of each.

Artemis' look had only changed somewhat, nothing quite as drastic as Super Boy's. While she didn't shed her green, her cowl covered the top of her head and had two peaks of a deep green connected to her mask as well as what looked like an 'H' between the peaks. The arrow on her chest was larger as well as wider and was that of a deep green with what looked like to be a Kevlar base. The deep green of her top was tucked tightly into her pants, but there was an almost chain-mail look to it as she moved. She also had thicker green gloves at the wrist with a curious scalloping that went almost halfway up her forearms the gloves coming halfway up her upper arms. Her boots were a dark green flexible combat boot.

As they walked through the portal, Artemis was speaking to Super Boy: "If I see an elf giving me a dirty look, I swear, I'm walking right back into the portal."

Super Boy took in their comrades and mentors. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that…" He said with a laugh.

"You're just saying that so you don't get an arrow up your butt." She accused him.

"That was a cheap shot!" He accused her.

"Whatever you say, soldier-boy…" She drawled waving her hand in a manner that said the subject was brushed away. "No elves… Looks like you lucked out." She said with a smirk at Super Boy.

"For that quip, no Carne Asada for you!" Super Boy sniped at her. It seemed as if they were ignoring their teammates, as they turned to face one another as the portal closed.

"Now that's just cruel and unusual!" Artemis complained.

"You want to talk cruel and unusual? How about our last sparring session?"

"In what way was that cruel and unusual?!" Artemis demanded.

"You stuck me with Hank." He growled in monotone.

A wicked smirk passed her lips. But she didn't deign to answer.

Super Boy rolled his eyes, before: "Hey gang. How's everything? It's good to see ya." he said turning to face his Young Justice teammates with a smile.

Artemis turned to face them as well, she saw their mentors: Batman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Dr. Fate, Red Tornado, Martian Man-Hunter, the Flash, and even Superman. She studied Superman for a moment, before rolling her eyes, and abruptly getting swung up into a magical encompassing hug from Zatanna.

It took a good twenty minutes before the random chatter came to a few random comments. They had moved into a more comfortable setting, specifically, the 'living room', everyone who cared for one, had a beverage within their grasp. M'gann was seated on one side of her boyfriend, while Artemis was seated quite comfortably on the other.

"Super Boy… You seem…" M'gann didn't quite know how to put this without upsetting her boyfriend in the presence of his 'father', "Um… Different."

"A lot can happen in seven years M'gann." Artemis answered, swiping Super Boy's soda can and taking a sip from it.

"That's mine! Get your own!" Super Boy griped at her, before they exchanged mild glares, and he swiped it back, gulping down the rest of it before crushing it in his hand and beaning it off one of her peaks. She caught it, with two fingers of her left hand and redirected its trajectory into the kitchen to make a 'clank!' as it landed in the aluminum recycle-bin receptacle.

Green Arrow and Black Canary were impressed, clearly Artemis had upgraded her skills to be able to do that without even aiming.

"Seven Years?!" Kid Flash demanded.

"Yeah-" Super Boy said casually. "Time does flow at different rates, KF…"

"Okay- I don't get it!" Zatanna exclaimed. "Why are your personalities so different?!" she demanded.

"And what's with the change in uniform?" Robin asked.

"Speaking of…" Super Boy said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Artemis. Apparently she got his gist, and announced to the computer.

"Computer: Bring up personnel folders: Artemis and Super Boy." The computer brought it up and Artemis and Super Boy stood. "Computer: Scan our current image, upload, and save." The computer complied and soon there was a new image of them in the personnel files. "Computer: Access complete personnel file: Artemis." The file was fully opened. "Change code name from Artemis to Hawkeye, and update all systems." A simple beep acknowledged her and her name in the file was changed from Artemis to Hawkeye. "Computer: Access medical files on Super Boy, initiate a medical scan, upload and save changes." Super Boy said as in tandem he and Artemis, now Hawkeye, sat down. The computer beeped as it signaled its task complete. Hawkeye reached for her glass of iced tea, only to see it gone from it's resting place, she glared at Super Boy, who smirked and handed her, her drink back.

She glared into it, before stalking from the room to dump it in the sink and get a new one. "Backwash." She muttered in disgust.

Robin overheard her and snickered from his position next to his mentor. Hawkeye got down two glasses from the cupboard and sliced a couple lime wedges and upon placing one in each glass with ice, added some mineral water, before walking back into the room and placing the glass of mineral water on the crown of Super Boy's head.

"Here." She said as she flopped back down into her seat spilling nary a drop from either her glass nor Super Boy's, and sipping contentedly from her own.

"You going to answer my question some time this century?" Zatanna asked, slightly annoyed.

"About how we've changed?" Super Boy asked. "Change means you learn, Zatanna…" He said easily, plucking the undisturbed mineral water from the top of his head to take a swallow.

Batman then spoke up. "Black Canary and I want to see what you two have learned while you were gone." Batman said emphasizing the 'learned' in his sentence.

He too had noted how Hawkeye and Super Boy seemed more in tune with one another; but if they had been gone for seven years like they said, then of course they would have developed some camaraderie. But that didn't explain the nearly complete personality change that Super Boy had. He was more easygoing, more trusting, he acted like a well-rounded teenager, more sure of himself in the grand scheme of things; Batman wanted to know what had changed. It was apparent that not only Super Boy had changed; Hawkeye's aim had improved drastically alongside her uniform and name.

A good way to get a glimpse into the skills and psyche of Super Boy and Hawkeye was to test them in a simulation against their teammates.

Super Boy and Hawkeye, easily nodded and followed he and Black Canary out to the training area, everyone else in the rear. Superman had even stuck around, so he followed as well.

"He's like a mix between Hill and Fury…" Hawkeye muttered to Super Boy, who barely muffled a snort of derision.

"Alright team, it will be Super Boy and Art- Hawkeye against the rest of you…" Black Canary announced, she paused when she said Hawkeye's new code-name. It would take some getting used to.

"Miss Martian link us up." Aqualad stated, readying himself for the simulation.

"And leave us out!" Hawkeye declared, when she felt the fringes of M'gann's mental connection.

As the simulation started, Hawkeye and Super Boy noted how similar Gotham and New York were. They knew that Robin would have the home field advantage, but in a sense, so did they.

They started out near the "Manhattan Building", and Hawkeye vaulted herself onto Super Boy's back and said:

"Hells Kitchen."

Super Boy knew what she meant, and they found an area similar to it, which she leapt off his back while he was still running and grasped the bottom of a fire escape and flipped herself on top of it.

Within minutes, Hawkeye was on the edge of one of the building's rooftops, concealed in shadows, and saw Zatanna flying alongside Kid Flash, Zatanna was the wild card, with her ability to use magic, so she pulled two arrows from her quiver, she quickly took aim and fired them consecutively.

They hit their intended targets within seconds of one another, the first arrow had them trapped, the second arrow released a gas that knocked Kid Flash and Zatanna unconscious.

Super Boy leapt from the street and landed on a roof several 'city' blocks away from her position while what she now called his 'Hulking tendencies'. She knew it was to draw her teammates' attention towards him, but she was more concerned about Robin. He had to have been on lookout for Kid Flash and Zatanna, so she slid into the all concealing shadows with the training she'd received from her mentors, Hawkeye and Black Widow, she wasn't quite a bona fide S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, but she was darn close. She used those learned skills now and raced deeper into the 'city'.

Knowing that his uniform shield was a nice bright white in the simulated darkness of night, Super Boy, also remembering Aqualad's excellent hearing, zipped his jacket, and clasped the top button across his throat. He stood there a good two seconds, feeling unseen eyes on him, smirking, he changed his vision to infrared, and glanced around. In a quick move, Aqualad, who had been almost directly behind him, was pulled into a Full Nelson, and a quick swipe of his foot knocked Kaldur's feet from beneath him.

Super Boy felt the telekinetic force of M'gann's mind against his grip, but his hearing picked up the distinct sound of one of Hawkeye's arrows. It tapped Miss Martian's forehead breaking her concentration, but when she reached to release it, goo covered her face, leaving her airways clear, but covering and trapping most of her upper body.

Despite his grip on Aqualad, Super Boy reached and put pressure on two specific parts of her shoulder, through the goo. She was down, and in seconds so would Kaldur be. All they had left of their teammates' opposing force would be Robin.

When Kaldur was finally unconscious, Super Boy let him sag gently to the ground. That's when he heard the distinct mocking laughter of the Boy Wonder; and he jumped from the building he was on to the one across the street, landing with the handspring and roll to silence his descent. And he raced across the rooftops, only the 'moon' showing something red and black dashing across the rooftops, toward 'Times Square', their designated 'Bad Guys Attack here!' spot. Hawkeye, knowing Super Boy's tactics was more than likely, already halfway there.

Super Boy's speed was formidable, even against the stealth of Robin, Super Boy having switched his vision back to regular, Robin had somewhat of a field advantage; but between he and Hawkeye, and their training from T'Challa, as well as Clint and Natasha, both extremely well trained S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, he knew they would and could beat Robin… Possibly even Batman.

Robin had to have an ace up his sleeve, but now so did Super Boy… Kind-of. From one of his waist pack's he pulled a shield that mimicked the shield on his torso. The shield was made from the same metal alloy his Mentor's was. It was currently small, easily fitting into the palm of his hand, but Hank had applied his Pym particles to it, so it could easily shrink or grow. Which he made it do now, just in time it turned out.

Several of Robin's disks hit his shield, exploding, but causing no damage to either it or Super Boy. Robin even slung some non-exploding ones at him, only for them to ricochet off and nearly hit him.

Robin quickly changed his position, but was hit in the back of the head with a pebble instantly gaining his intent attention, only to be hit with a one-two attack, a large heavy something hit him across the chin sending him reeling into Super Boy, who raised a fist and hit him on crown of the head, knocking him out.

The simulation ended, and Hawkeye turned to see Flash and Superman trying to remove the material that was trapping KF and Zatanna. She shook her head, the material was water solvent, so- with a smirk, she cocked her head at Super Boy who acknowledged her and signaled the 'Super Cycle' to get water and soak the two- No, he was feeling mischievous- the four of them with it.

It did so with a series of beeps indicating glee. Wolf approached, and put his head against Super Boy's shoulder.

"How're you doing boy?" Super Boy asked patting the wolf. Wolf merely whined and then gave a contented growl, Wolf had missed his humanoid partner. Super Boy rubbed him between his ears, and Hawkeye even gave him a good scratch between the shoulder blades.

Wolf then decided that his tolerance of this female, who had changed her form somewhat, had changed to liking her, so he licked her on the arm. She scratched him lightly down the spine to the base of his tail, where she gave him a vigorous scratching. His leg thumped against the ground and Wolf very nearly growled at her when she stopped.

Super Boy picked up the arrow which had sent Robin reeling, and raised an eyebrow at her. He looked at the 'tip' of the arrow which had a pale-green boxing glove on the end of it. "Seriously?" He asked her sardonically.

"It's a classic!" She protested. Green Arrow, who had stayed along with the other members of the Justice League for the demonstration, shot a grin at Black Canary, which she in turn shot down with a glare. They'd had a similar argument in the past.

"It's moronic!"

"It worked!" She insisted.

He grudgingly nodded, handing her back the arrow which she easily collapsed and replaced it in her quiver.

Together they turned to face Batman and a soaked Flash and Superman, both sending disapproving looks at him.

Super Boy flashed a grin at the two soaked super heroes. "What- It's only water… You won't melt!"

Hating the feel of wet shoes, Flash put a hand to Superman's shoulder and vibrated the water molecules, making the water rise a foot off their bodies before dropping to the ground leaving them dry and everybody else the same.

"We need to talk." Superman told Super Boy.

Before the portal, Super Boy would have nearly jumped at the opportunity Superman presented; now though, it was a different story.

"No, we don't. You already have said in so many words that you're not my Father. And now I completely agree. I have no need for a Deadbeat Dad." With that he turned from one of his genetic donors and faced Batman.

"Okay, so admit it… How'd that feel?" Hawkeye asked slightly elbowing Super Boy.

"Surprisingly… Good. You and Janet were right." He admitted.

Hawkeye flashed him a winning 'Told-ya-so!' look and also turned to face Batman.

Superman was standing behind them in shock, looking at the back of his clone. Super Boy called him a 'Deadbeat Dad'! Flash sent him a pitying look, one that the Man of Steel missed, but the other Leaguer's didn't.

"Your tactics were excellent. You were efficient, and resourceful, lending aid to your teammate where it was needed. Had there been any verbal or radio communication, there would have been none from the opposing side." He told the both of them, Batman then turned to Super Boy looking at him appraisingly. "You've changed your ideals in fighting. But since the change, there has been a great improvement." He looked at both of them. "Seven years can change many things. But apparently it did not change your age. I fully expect you to finish your schooling. I expect a full report tomorrow, in the mean time, get some rest. Hawkeye- you have someone waiting for you. Go home." With that Batman turned from them and walked to the Zeta Tubes, was recognized and disappeared into the 'tunnel'.

Hawkeye and Super Boy exchanged identical grins before Hawkeye yelled 'Bye' to the rest of the Young Justice team and raced for the Zeta Tubes herself.

Super Boy reached his arms above his head, and stretched. "40 winks and I'll be ready to go! Hey M'gann! I'm looking forward to your lunch tomorrow!"

M'gann blushed heavily and Zatanna, now awake along with Kid Flash, both thoroughly wet, shared a laugh, before leaving to dry off and catch some sleep themselves.

Tomorrow was a school day after all…

* * *

It was just after four in the morning, when Artemis walked through the Zeta tubes. There was no way she was skipping out on Tai Chi with Conner. It was a morning tradition, that went back four years!

Since no one else was awake, she ran to the gym area, and saw Conner warming up. "Ready?" She asked.

"Let's do it." Conner agreed and they headed outside into the brisk October air of early dawn to greet the day.

Their Tai Chi finished just after the sun rose halfway from the horizon. They walked back inside together, and shared a cup of coffee, before she wished him a good day with school and left via Zeta Tubes for her own school day.

Their 'first day back' to school was boring. Because they'd stayed in the other Universe for so long, they'd finished High School and were more than halfway through their College courses.

That afternoon, after school, they agreed to test out of their classes.

* * *

The next day they spoke with their respective school counselors and within that week they were testing out of their basic classes and into the AP classes, which they were passing with ease.

Due in large part to their mentors in other Universe- Math and Physics was a breeze thanks to Tony and T'Challa, Chemistry was effortless thanks to Hank, World History was slightly more challenging but still simple, the Languages- well, the four that were offered (English, Spanish, Japanese and Russian) were as undemanding as they could get, thanks to Clint and Natasha; They took only one elective course each, at the prodding of the counselors, so Conner took Shop-class, and Artemis took Home-Economics, specifically Cooking. The process of each as well as the products were something that they enjoyed thoroughly especially as Conner made Artemis cooking ware, and Artemis shared her class work with him, and the rest of the team.

After that first week of her missing teammates being 'back', M'gann was confused as to why Conner was no longer attending classes with her; however she had Bumblebee practice, and so had to stay after school for a good two hours for it, Tuesday of Conner and Artemis' second week back.

Seeing as M'gann had Bumblebee practice, Conner went 'home' by himself. After applying himself to his homework, which was unproblematic (although it was time consuming), he grabbed a bottle of mineral water and headed down to the gym.

Artemis met him there and they warmed up together. This afternoon was gymnastic equipment usage, so while Artemis went to the hanging rings, Conner went for the quadruple uneven bars.

Kaldur, M'gann and Red Tornado found them there in the middle of a good sweat, having done three equipments for thirty-five minutes each, they were on the mats, practicing their tumbling and flips and so forth.

"You are performing most admirably…" Red Tornado stated, unaffected as usual. He was an android after-all. Conner and Artemis looked at him, he wasn't as creepy-looking as Ultron, but they weren't as trusting with machines as they had once been.

M'gann was upset however. "Why didn't you wait for me?" Conner and Artemis finished the end of their routines, a triple-twist-flip and kick maneuver, before walking towards the gathered group.

"For two hours?" Conner gave her an odd look. "I don't mind waiting for a lady," he told her easily, "but that's a little long, and since you joined the cheerleading squad, it's only going to get more demanding as soon as the football, soccer and basketball seasons start…"

M'gann looked downtrodden, she had thought when she joined the Bumblebee's that it would be a great Earth thing, to gain herself some more Earth friends, what she hadn't counted on though, was the time spent away from her boyfriend.

"You could always go to their meets…" Kaldur suggested to Conner.

M'gann hadn't thought of that, and so she smiled winningly at her boyfriend.

Conner grunted noncommittally, and toweled himself dry with the hand towel Artemis tossed him.

"I… Just don't see you at school anymore, besides walking their together I mean." M'gann complained, biting her lip. "I could quit being a Bumblebee…" M'gann offered timidly to her boyfriend. She really enjoyed being a member of the Bumblebee's but she liked being Conner's girlfriend better.

"Why? You like it don't you? You shouldn't have to quit something just because I won't be able to be around you as much…" Conner said, frowning confusedly. He looked towards Artemis, who merely shrugged, before she took a sip from her bottled water. He would be questioning her later, to get a better idea on the female mind. He already knew he was doomed, he just wanted to see how deep the pit he'd dug was.

"Team, meet me in the Missions room." Came Batman's voice over the intercom.

M'gann gave Conner a sad look before flying off, Red-Tornado clanking off after her. Aqualad shook his head at Conner, before he too left.

"Saved by the call to Assemble…" Artemis laughed.

"Yeah, sure. Yuck it up Arty…" He gave her shoulder a rough shove. "Come on. The sooner we shower and change, the sooner we can meet up with the rest of the team in the Mission's room."

To save time, they opted for a sonic shower, and quickly got dressed in their uniforms. They met outside the changing rooms and jogged towards the Mission room. They saw they were the last two to arrive, and they'd been noticed.

"You two are late." Batman stated.

"We two were training, and sweat-soaked when you called the team to Assemble." Hawkeye smarted back.

"Hnn." Batman said, narrowing his eyes through his cowl at them. "I have been informed that you two have exceeded your classes and are passing the Advanced courses with ease. Is there something you'd like to tell your teammates and I?" He stated, rather than suggested.

"We were half-way through college, in the other Universe, and despite our-" Super Boy glanced at Hawkeye, "extra-curricular activities, we still had a 4.0gpa." Super Boy stated with a shrug.

"What happened in the other Universe?" Black Canary asked, concerned. They hadn't noticed her standing there, and they mentally smacked themselves upside the head. They knew better! Always check your surroundings!

"Nothing too crazy… Putting criminals back in jail, creating ties with the local Super Hero team, training, stabilizing Super Boy's DNA sequences, stopping a couple of Alien Invasions, school, social networking, fighting more bad guys…"

"What did you mean- stabilizing Super Boy's DNA sequences?" Aqualad asked, focusing on the matter at hand, he'd noticed how Hawkeye had buried that statement in the middle of seemingly inconsequential phrases. Aqualad had noticed how more at peace with himself Super Boy had been, since the portal incident and Kaldur was certain that it had more to do with the DNA thing, than just being gone for seven years.

"We landed in the middle of a enormous criminal jail-break, which happened all over the United States." Artemis said. "In the matter of three weeks, we had, on our own, put ten back in jail, after we removed and/or destroyed their weapons. During that time, I noticed that Super Boy was getting more and more-" she paused, looking at her teammate and best friend for the past seven years.

"You can say it: I was getting destructive... There were times when the only thing that would calm me down was Artemis actually sitting on my shoulder." Super Boy admitted.

"That was when we met with the Avengers…" Artemis continued. "The Avengers are a team of Super Heroes, much like the Justice League, but they're based in New York." She explained to all present. "I was in a Mexican Stand-off with arrows against one of my would-be-mentors, and Super Boy was going head-to-head with their muscle… When I saw Super Boy start his pre-fight growl and howl, I must've startled my mentor when suddenly I replaced my bow and arrow and flipped onto Super Boy's shoulder, kicking against the muscle of the Avengers. That was when I saw through Super Boy's hand, his whole arm actually… I leapt down and ordered everyone to stop; which they reluctantly did. I grabbed Super Boy's hand and he flinched when I did so, so I ran my hand up his arm, to test for… Well- what I don't know, but when the skin fell away, I yelled for a scientist. Luckily for us, Super Boy more especially, four out of eight, later nine, of the Avengers were scientists."

"I don't remember much of what happened next," Super Boy admitted, "but in the end, my non-Kryptonian DNA was replaced with a donor's from the Avengers."

"Who?" Aqualad asked.

"His code-name is Captain America. And he was the reason why WWII never proceeded as far as it did in this Universe." Artemis explained. "Super Boy's human DNA was unstable, and his Kryptonian DNA needed a counter-part in order to survive. Captain America volunteered the use of his DNA, but they only way to fully stabilize Super Boy was to remove his human DNA completely. King T'Challa of Wakanda allowed the Avengers the use of his facilities, and in a matter of three days when you have four genius scientist superheroes-types and others to aid the process, Super Boy was not only stable, but he'd gained a Father as well." Artemis said proudly.

"So whatever CADMUS really made me for, whatever their ulterior motives may be or may have been, won't work on me anymore." Conner said with a chuckle. "Apparently, I had some programming in my previous human DNA, and since it had to be eradicated for the new human DNA, the programming is null and void."

"I'd say: Stupid Evil People, but so far, whomever is pulling the strings, is doing a pretty bang-up job…" Hawkeye said.

She glanced at Super Boy and at his nod, as they'd spoken about the situation that had brought the Young Justice team together back in the other Universe with the Avengers; several points had been brought up, along with several well thought out questions. The seven years in the other Universe had made Conner and Artemis extremely well versed on reconnaissance; so with Super Boy's go-ahead, she decided to lay it on the line… Even though it hadn't been obvious to she and Super Boy at first it was almost glaringly so now.

"You don't need a birds-eye view to see the strings of results that we're playing into…" She announced pausing as she activated a keyboard in the laser-hologram field.

Upon typing in several keywords she was bringing up information in the computer from several different sources, sources that she shouldn't have been able to get into, previous to her seven year stint, and she brought up the information she and Conner had gathered(hacked) over the week on 'the main viewer'.

"There's a planet called Apokolips, it's ruled by a being called Darkseid. I know Superman is aware of him, but I doubt that Darkseid's behind this, but more likely he has minions that are eager to curry favor with humans. They use a device which creates portals of light and sound to a different part of the Galaxy…"

Batman looked disturbed, as she relayed the gathered information; but with eyes that belied her age, she could see that he wanted to look into the information himself. Batman was a glass-half-empty kind of guy. Always looking toward the coming darkness rather than the dawn.

"Curry Flavor?" Kid Flash said deliberately mishearing.

"Please- use your science-y brain…" Super Boy begged his teammate.

"The League will look into this development." Batman promised.

* * *

I HAD to get this out... My muse was cracking the whip hard!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm hoping to continue it, but so far- this 'first chapter' had almost all my attention...

Thanks for Reading!

JoWashington


	2. Chapter 2

"What have you truly learned?" Was Wonder Woman's question to both Super Boy and Hawkeye. Hawkeye in particular.

Hawkman and Hawkgirl were with them as well.

The two Thanagarians had specifically requested the two for a patrol after watching video footage of their in depth training sessions outside the team, as well as their simulated sessions with the team.

Super Boy was carrying Hawkeye on his back, as she kept her eagle eyes on the streets below. They had silent signals, between the two of them, that if either she or he saw or heard something, a signal would be given, and action would be taken.

They were all flying over Central City; Flash and some of the other Justice League members were taking care of an issue on Rigel 4.

When they were in the other Universe, after stabilizing Super Boy's DNA, Artemis and Steve had walked into Conner's bedroom to wake him for the beginning of their first Tai Chi session of their training regimen, when they saw him floating against the ceiling. When Artemis threw some of his dirty laundry at his head, Conner woke up. He had been startled, but at the same time thrilled. Evidently, since becoming the 'son' of Captain America, Steve Rogers, his 'father's' DNA was a benefit to his Kryptonian DNA, and not hampering it as Luthor's had apparently been.

"We know a lot…" Super Boy said. "When you're surrounded with genius'… and good role models," he added as a secondary thought, "you aim higher, and try to exceed their expectations…" A grin crossed his face.

"We even changed the time stream." Hawkeye spoke up, her eyes never leaving the streets.

"For the better." Super Boy added, his grin was infectious. Causing Wonder Woman and the Hawk's to smile in return.

"In what way?" Hawkgirl asked. If these two teenagers had changed the Time Stream in that Universe for the better, she could only imagine how they would affect things in this Universe's Time Stream.

"There's this… Conqueror…" Hawkeye said slowly. "He had been trying to save his future, specifically the woman he loved. But things went bad, apparently when you muck around in the time stream and bring things back, you remember and do things that aren't…" She trailed off, not quite sure how to word what she wanted to say. "Time-stream approved." The look on her face said that the phrase still wasn't quite right, but her eyes never left the streets.

Hawkeye trusted her partner, Super Boy, to the fullest. That much was evident to Hawkman, he grabbed Shayera, Hawkgirl's hand and gave it a squeeze before releasing it.

"I don't understand." Wonder Woman admitted.

Super Boy took over understanding what Hawkeye was saying. "Imagine you going back in time to take one of the three Golden Apples that History says were there…" He said briefly remembering the myth of the Golden Apples. Although considering that this was Wonder Woman flying near him, it probably wasn't much of a myth as it was History. Wonder Woman nodded, showing that she followed him so far.

"Now you come back to your own time stream to read that there were only two apples…"

A subtle knee shift from Hawkeye brought his attention to the streets, and they dove for the ground. With moves that would have made Spider-Man jealous, they foiled an armored car robbery, and rejoined the Leaguer's.

"Apples?" Hawkman prodded.

"Right." Hawkeye said, continuing where Super Boy left off. "Now- you know that there were three apples, but History states that there were only two apples… Bring in the added fact that now there's someone from the original timeline who knows that there were actually three apples, and that you took one of them; in order to bring history back to its actual timeline, they have to reverse what you did, but by any means possible."

"Can't be good."

"Exactly, because they know how History was really supposed to pan out."

"Time travel gives me a headache." Hawkgirl stated, rubbing a hand across her masked face.

"How does this play into the Conqueror?" Wonder Woman asked. She was intrigued. Clearly these two teenagers have been well taught, if they can explain something as specific as Time travel and its paradox's.

"The Conqueror was there, in present time, to kill Captain American. He, the Conqueror, said that as Captain America's presence had 'disrupted the time-stream' it was necessary to remove him in any form. The Avengers of course wouldn't allow this- and eventually stopped him after… well- after he tried to conquer the present. But they forced him to stay in a prison."

"Hawkeye really figured the reason why, after his defeat." Super Boy admitted.

"They were going on and on about Grandfather theory!" She exclaimed as if defending herself; it was apparent that while she held her knowledge dear, she didn't like the feats of her knowledge to be known.

Wonder Woman looked at she and Super Boy in confusion; both about the Grand-sire theory and Hawkeye's defense of her knowledge.

"It's a Time Travel thing again." Super Boy stated. "The Grandfather theory says that: If you went back in time and ended up killing your grandfather when he was a boy- you and your father would have never been born… It's a big issue, but the crux of the Grandfather Theory is the creation of a paradox."

Wonder Woman nodded. Now she was beginning to understand why time travel was so convoluted.

"Right." Hawkeye said continuing. "So they were going on and on about Princess Ravonna-"

"That's the Conqueror's wife." Super Boy interrupted. "Who was still alive although in some weird kind of time stasis, because of the future's time collapse."

"I asked them about her lineage," Hawkeye continued. "They looked at me stumped." She shrugged. "Since they didn't know- I went to the source: The Conqueror." She sighed. "It took some time, but with the help of a digital video recorder, and the usual threats and so forth, he and I were able to discuss Princess Ravonna's ancestral lineage."

"When Hawkeye found out who Princess Ravonna's 21st Century ancestors were, she brought it to the attention of the Avengers." Super Boy said, congenially. "So they looked into it, and upon discussing the delicate issue with those 'ancestors'… well-" He trailed off, glancing up at his partner, who was apparently having a 'Titanic' moment. If the discussion weren't so in depth, Super Boy had no doubt that she would have declared that she was the 'Queen of the World!'.

"You would not have believed how mad the Conqueror was that his parallel self from a distant future was the one who had caused his wife's great-about a hundred times- grandmother, to become sterile, and not Captain America like he'd assumed." Super Boy said a smirk in his words. Apparently he was there for the outcome, and was quite satisfied with what had occurred.

"What did you do?" Hawkman asked genuinely interested.

"We didn't do anything." Super Boy stressed.

The group heard a sound in the distance, though Super Boy had heard it first and tapped Hawkeye's knee, in signal, and they flew hastily to where the noise came from, the Leaguer's followed seconds later.

It was Toyman.

Clearly the end of the tale Super Boy and Hawkeye told would have to wait until after the fight.

* * *

Toyman was prepared for Superman.

He got Super Boy instead, but he was shocked to realize that Kryptonite had no effect on Super Boy now. A benefit to being the 'son' of Captain America. Actually come to think of it, because he actually did have Captain America's DNA in his system, he was his Dad… Neat. Though it was still weird to be the clone of one man, but to be the genetic son of another…

As Super Boy distracted Toyman, the Hawks and Wonder Woman took out his toy army. Which this time included Barbie dolls. Hawkman was of little use in that respect and the three women only held disgust for the "life-size" Barbie's. They were completely unnatural, with their seven-foot height and four inch across eyes… Hawkman called them Bambie eyes. The women called them gross.

The fight lasted a grand total of six minutes, with Toyman proclaiming them 'Cheater's!' as he was arrested.

* * *

As they climbed back into the sky to continue their aerial patrol, the youngest 'Hawk' spoke up. "We didn't do anything; the Conqueror did." Hawkeye said obviously continuing the story from where they'd left off.

"The two of us as well as the Conqueror went back to the time where his alternate self made his wife's ancestor sterile, stopped the change, while not altering the time stream, we were both there to witness it, and when we came back, Princess Ravonna was awake and demanding to see her husband." Hawkeye said, a smile glancing across her face as she continued to watch the streets below their aerial patrol. "It was definitely 'It's a Wonderful Life' moment…" Hawkeye said.

At the blank looks from the Leaguer's, Super Boy tried to explain.

"They were so happy, it was truly something that showed how one person could change the world for the better; since Hawkeye and I were the ones who figured out what had happened, the Conqueror and Princess Ravonna decided to give us something. What- Hawkeye and I have no clue, it still hasn't shown up, but after the whole thing, the Avengers, our other mentors, were… not happy knowing that the Conqueror was back in his time stream." Super Boy said.

"Why were they upset?" Wonder Woman asked.

"Because the Conqueror had tried to conquer our- their world." Super Boy stated. "According to S.H.I.E.L.D. regulation, and United States law, one must be held accountable for one's actions, and trying to conquer the world and very nearly succeeding, is a Very Big 'No-no'."

"But the fact that we were apprenticed to the Avengers gave us a little leeway, we were allowed to continue our training under our mentors, but we also had to take several legal courses with Defense Attorney's, attend U.N. meetings when we were able, and still keep up with school work and saving the world…" Hawkeye said with a groan.

"We have basically received all our college training, and exceeded…" Super Boy said. "Because of everything we did and were put through, we have… I guess, the same training and background as a Justice League Member."

The three Leaguer's shared a look. It wasn't normal for teenagers to go through that amount of training and still end up being semi-normal.

The rest of the patrol went off with minimal hitches, and they returned to a Zeta-beam site, to teleport to the Mount.

* * *

Once they arrived, they were converged upon by their teammates, and girlfriend.

Said girlfriend wasn't too keen on seeing her boyfriend so in tune with another girl.

Said gal-friend of the boyfriend noticed the subtle glare, and after smacking his shoulder went off to harass Kid Flash.

She decided that he was actually cute, and wanted to have a semi-relationship with him. Though, as she knew from her observations, relationships in the team hardly worked out for the camaraderie of the entire team.

* * *

Artemis noticed that back in the other Universe, that Hawkeye, Clint that is, was a great Frienemy -oddly with the Hulk- although he definitely had a friend in the King of Wakanda, T'Challa. As she walked down the hallway, she wondered being a Frienemy was what she had been with Kid Flash.

Conner obviously saw it, and had pointed it out to her in the other Universe. She had merely poured her piping hot coco on his head in retaliation.

She still got a smirk out of remembering his reaction and the subsequent food fight that they'd degenerated into with of all beings, Thor. Thor definitely knew how to have a good Food-fight. It must've been a Viking/Asgard thing…

That was when as she walked towards the gym she looked at herself in one of the reflective surfaces of Mount Justice. She was really taking after her Mentor…

Before they'd left back through the portal, it had only just been noticed by J.A.R.V.I.S.' sensors, Hawkeye had given her permission to use his moniker, telling her not to be shy about using it either. Natasha and Janet had gotten together and with the aid of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s seamstresses, gifted her with her current uniform. Hawkeye ran a gloved hand up her arm, over the odd encompassing scalloping to rest on her shoulder. When Artemis ran out of arrows, and in the field she had run out of arrows frequently, she had her dart-gauntlets to fall back on. It had been something that Black Widow had insisted upon, at first Artemis had been quite adamant about not using the gauntlets, but seven years was enough to wear any pupil down; and in the end, not only was Artemis wearing the dart-gauntlets, but she was fully capable of using them.

Hawkeye pulled a gloved hand through her long ponytail and whipped the end of it, out of habit. She then continued her walk to the gym.

When she got there, she pulled off her cowl and sat at the edge of the pool. They were back in their home Universe now… There was really no need to be as close to Conner as she had been, they had been each other's only connection to home after-all. She stared into the surface of the pool, and shifted slightly, sighing as she did so at the thought of losing a seven-year friendship... She wondered if she really should withdraw part of her friendship with Conner. She didn't want to upset M'gann after all, they were teammates, and already the team had suffered from their closeness.

She dashed a hand through the surface of the pool. She hated thinking like this. She wasn't a negative person by nature! Or… was she?

Grunting to herself she, she yanked her cowl back on and stormed around the living areas, avoiding her teammates and their ever present babysitter and left to go to Star City. She needed to talk to Red Arrow.

~"Recognized: Hawkeye, B 06."~

* * *

Conner looked up from where he and his other teammates were resting. He wanted to ask Artemis something, but found that she was gone.

"J.A.R.V.I.S. where is-" Then he stopped, that's right, the didn't have J.A.R.V.I.S. in this Universe.

"Hey- Wally, have you seen Artemis?" He asked the speed-user of the team instead.

"Miss 'I'm-the-best-thing-since-they-developed-the-bow'? Can't say I have." Wally said around eating a piece of jerky.

M'gann got a look on her face. "Why is it that you're looking around for her?"

Conner pressed a kiss to her lips. "She's only a friend M'gann…"

It didn't quite appease her, especially as Conner stood to go look for her. Kaldur stood with him and volunteered to help look.

When twenty minutes later it became apparent that she wasn't anywhere in the Mount, Kaldur brought up the security feeds. Robin, Wally and Zatanna joined them, with M'gann following as well, although M'gann followed sulkily.

"Look- there she is." Robin pointed out her form on the monitor as she walked down the hallway towards the gym.

Her image paused to look at itself in a reflective surface before she whipped her ponytail and they followed security feeds to watch her set down at the side of the pool and remove her cowl. She sat there for a good few minutes according to the time stamp on the security feeds before she dashed a hand into the surface of the water and then abruptly stood up and stormed out, yanking on her cowl as she went. It was obvious to all members that her harsh thoughts weren't abated. They followed her feeds to the Zeta-Tubes where she left.

"Where do you believe she left to?" Kaldur asked Conner.

"Why are you asking him?" M'gann demanded. "If anything-"

Kaldur interrupted her. "M'gann, they were in the other Universe for seven years; of all people, as her partner and friend he would know her thoughts." He said placing a placating hand on M'gann's shoulder.

Conner shook his head. "If we were in the other Universe and something upset Artemis, then she'd leave to consult either with Wasp or the Black Panther. Possibly even Ant-man…. But here… I don't know… Maybe, Red Arrow?" He pushed a frustrated hand through his thick black hair.

* * *

Artemis was dressed down in casual clothes, as she went to Roy's apartment. She rapped a staccato of five knocks on his door, and moments later a rumpled Roy opened it.

"It's do you want?" He asked, glaring slightly at her.

"Advice." She said shortly.

"Go talk to Canary." He said closing the door.

She shoved a foot between it and the frame. "I need advice from you." She announced.

They glared lightly at one another before Roy decided to let her in.

"Why would she go see Red Arrow?" Kid Flash asked.

"Maybe Artemis felt uncomfortable with something?" Zatanna offered.

"But what?" Conner asked, before hitting the back of his head against the cave wall. "Never-mind…. I think I know."

Artemis sat slumped on Roy's couch and clasped her hands between her ankles.

She had admitted her problems, with Super Boy, and Miss Martian; her concerns about not being able to fit back into the team regime after having been a part of a regime that was standard for her now after seven years. She also stated her fears about not being able to live up to her mentor's moniker from the other Universe and she vented her concern about having relationships within the Junior Justice League team and their detriments. She didn't mention names, but she really didn't have to. Roy knew what and whom she was speaking of.

Roy had been seated across from her in a ratty yet comfortable armchair. When she finished, he got up and sat beside her still slumped form.

"This really bothers you doesn't it?" He leaned an arm across his knees, looking into her face, concerned.

Artemis released her clasped hands and leaned back hitting her head against the back of the couch.

"I can't talk to Conner about it and I'm not going to talk to Canary about it…"

"What about Green Arrow?"

She shot him a look. They both knew that it wasn't an option.

"So why'd you come to me?"

"I needed to talk to someone who knew about our things, who knows and has been through… you know… things…" She said not able to get the appropriate words off her tongue.

They shared a moment of silence as the clock in the kitchenette chimed eleven.

"Let's take a walk." Roy said, getting up. He pulled on a jacket and retrieved his keys from a dish next to the door.

Artemis, still wearing her jacket, followed. They walked for a while in silence, before ending up at the Star City Park. They sat on one of the park benches and still didn't say a word. It was a quiet night out, though neither admitted it, and the park-lights were lit and crickets were singing.

"Do you want my honest opinion?" Roy asked suddenly. He had been mulling over what she'd said before their walk.

"Yes." She said looking up from her crossed ankles.

"Let things play out… Change isn't meant to be easy… You can still be friends with Conner, but don't be…"

"Clingy, obtrusive?" Artemis offered sardonically.

"That, and it doesn't hurt to have friends outside the team to rely on, you know."

Artemis left the question of Roy being a friend to rely on, unasked.

Roy heard the unasked question and decided that if she needed only a friend or even a ear to vent into, then he would be there for her. She wasn't trying to replace him, he knew that now- She was however, trying to find her way back into this Universe and didn't want to harm the small friendships she had retained here.

"It's nice out…" She said quietly.

"Yeah- quiet..." Roy said, nodding. Both froze and sprinted back towards his apartment. They'd jinxed it.

* * *

The team, specifically Kaldur and Conner, spoke to Green Arrow first- on the off-chance that Hawkeye went to see him… No such luck. When they'd asked him if he had Red Arrow's address, so they could talk to him, Green Arrow shook his head.

"Sorry kids- Roy- Red Arrow specifically asked me not to find him."

Conner grunted narrowing his eyes. There was no way that he was leaving his best female friend in a precarious emotional condition.

Who knew who would take advantage of her.

Who knew how badly she would take her emotional condition out on that person?

* * *

Hawkeye and Red Arrow raced across rooftops.

"So, what's with the new gloves?" Red Arrow asked her as they ran.

"It's a back-up system for after I run out of arrows." Hawkeye said as she ran alongside him.

"Yeah- having a finite supply of arrows is definitely a bad thing for us…" Red Arrow agreed.

They fell into an easy silence as they ran.

While they changed, a large explosion was heard, and while they knew that Green Arrow would be there. They decided that backup was always necessary, even if it was for GA…

* * *

Kaldur was the one who decided not to go after her. Zatanna frowned and demanded why, and Wally shared her sentiment.

"I believe it would be best if we allowed Hawkeye to figure her problems out herself…" Aqualad explained to his teammates.

"All the more reason why we should be there for her!" Zatanna insisted. "She shouldn't be by herself! Not when she's only just getting used to being back in this Universe!"

"Hawkeye can take care of herself, she's had the best teachers…" Conner defended his friend, although the look in M'gann's face said that it wasn't the best thing for him to do at this particular moment in time.

"I am well aware of Hawkeye's capabilities, Conner; it is not they that I am doubting." Kaldur said trying to placate his semi-volatile male teammate.

"Then what's the big deal?" Wally demanded.

* * *

They ran towards the explosion which had occurred in a warehouse in Star City that should have been vacant for years… But then both teenagers realized that that was the purpose of using premises' such as these, they were under the Hero Radar. With a nod, Hawkeye went to the rear of the warehouse while Red Arrow went to the front. Since Miss Martian wasn't available, back in his apartment, Red Arrow gave Hawkeye an earwig communicator and placed its partner in his own ear. Hawkeye climber the ladder to the roof and encased herself in the shadows but with a full view of the inside. With communication lines open, they readied themselves.

* * *

"I am concerned that going after her will put this team in jeopardy," Aqualad stated sincerely.

"She would never!" Conner objected venomously.

"It was not she I was referring to…" Aqualad said, as the Zeta-Tube activated and Black Canary emerged.

"Red Tornado contacted me. There's been an issue?" She asked.

"There has been some animosity amongst the team and I wish for it to be resolved before we are sent out on another mission.' Aqualad stated.

Black Canary's practiced eyes slid over the team to come to rest on M'gann and Conner.

"I see, alright then- the rest of you… there's a new entertaining program that came on last month and they are replaying the episodes. We may be a while… Go enjoy yourselves." she looked at Conner and M'gann. "Let's go talk."

* * *

Red Arrow and Hawkeye were right to be prepared, especially when they saw that the League of Shadows and Cobra were working together, again. But that didn't explain the explosion.

Actually it did, Hawkeye drew Red Arrow's attention to his ten o'clock. There was Green Arrow trussed up, a nearby area of the warehouse showed signs of the explosion. He was badly bruised and he had burns up his arms and his left knee looked almost disjointed. Red Arrows eye narrowed. It was going to be interesting trying to get their mentor out of the warehouse.

Out of the bottom of her quiver, Hawkeye removed a yellow visor and clamped it over her eyes. Now she saw why there was an explosion…

Lisping her 'S' sounds, she spoke quietly to Red Arrow: "There're trip wireth for ethplothiveth all around the windowth. A lather grid jutht beneath the theiling and the front and back doorth…" She warned.

Keeping the visor on, she used one of her arrows and expelled a minute bit of acid against the frames of the windows. It quickly ate through the frame and using an implement that Ant-Man gave her, applied a highly concentrated ant pheromone against each trip wire. Within minutes, although it was night, Hawkeye could see the ants going en mass to the place where the pheromone was and climbing the wires where the pheromone had eased into.

With the ants going for the trip wires she made her way back towards the area where Red Arrow was.

"The trip wires will be taken care of in the next few minutes." She said, speaking no as she made her way to the front door.

Red Arrow grabbed her arm in protest. "We're just going to walk in through the front door?!"

"In a moment we will be the least of their worries." Hawkeye said with a smirk. "Contact Batman and the League, we'll need support if we're going to take out a branch of both the League of Shadows and Cobra…"

* * *

"Alright so tell me what is going on…" Black Canary said, as she leaned back in the same chair that she'd used when she'd consoled the team after the simulate training incident. Conner sat next to M'gann across from her, both had very closed expressions but only Conner looked slightly more open than M'gann.

She watched their reactions, as she spoke: "There's been some odd tension in the team since Super Boy and Hawkeye have returned…"

M'gann's expression closed off so hard that Canary might as well have been talking to a marble statue of the Martian girl.

Conner's reaction remained as it was, at Canary's statement. Though he did look taken aback at M'gann's instant closed nature.

"I need to know how to make it easier for the team to work together…" Canary said, leaning forward; clasping her hands over her knees.

M'gann scoffed. "Right."

Canary looked at M'gann, "Are you aware that there is no form of intimate feelings between Conner and Artemis beyond familial amity, right M'gann?"

"Doesn't change things… Conner is my boyfriend. Not hers."

"I don't want her to be my girlfriend!" Conner declared. "M'gann is my girlfriend. Artemis is more like a best friend and sister combined!"

M'gann looked at him in surprise.

"Seriously?"

* * *

"Shall we get this party started?" Hawkeye asked with a smirk.

Red Arrow nodded shortly, and contacted the League through a device he wasn't exactly supposed to have, contacted Hawkman and was informed that within minutes, the League would arrive.

"Wouldn't be a party without some fireworks…" Red Arrow said with a return smirk. "Luckily I planted something earlier that should come in handy."

"Does it go: Boom?"

"And it's 'even brighter than the Moon'."

Hawkeye glared at Red Arrow, "You're not supposed to get pop-culture references…" She grumbled.

"Get ready." Red Arrow said notching an arrow.

Hawkeye darted into position, above Green Arrow, and watched as Red Arrow took aim.

* * *

"You thought I thought of Artemis like that?!" Conner demanded, a look of extreme disgust crossed his face. "M'gann- She's been- I've been-!"

"You've been what?" M'gann asked Conner, curious. All animosity towards Artemis gone. Luckily for the team, M'gann wasn't one to hold a grudge, especially once an issue had been brought into the forum.

"She's been coaching me on how to really ask you out on a real date." Conner admitted, a flush highlighting his cheeks.

* * *

Once the arrow flew and struck, Hawkeye darted through the window, swearing as one of the ant-infested trip wires 'tripped' and caused a large explosion, the pressure wave sending her into the sharp support bracket of a pulley-conveyor system. She shimmied the rest of the way down and after quickly releasing Green Arrow, she encouraged him to lean on her as he was still heavily dazed, and after attaching the mechanized grappler to his uniform, she pressed the 'return' button, and Green Arrow was pulled back up onto the roof. Using another mechanized grappler in cross-bow style, Hawkeye pulled herself up.

By the time she'd reached the roof, Green Lantern had shown up by then, as had Hawkman, Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl.

"Long time no see kid…" Hawkgirl stated, a grin stretching across her lips.

"Yeah- This is just one biiig looong fun-filled day…" Hawkeye said groaning as she pulled herself up over the edge and watched as Red Arrow handed Green Arrow over to Green Lantern as Batman and Dr. Fate showed up.

Red Arrow watched in seeming envy as the League members took control of the League of Shadows and Cobra warehouse issue. He looked back at Hawkeye and decided that she was alright, she did seem to know what she was doing in the hero arena… Even if she didn't know how to react in the personal one… He thought of her history and realized that for whom she was related to, she was almost normal.

"What was with the ants?" Batman asked them, apparently, the League of Shadows and Cobra, didn't put up much of a fight once the Justice League members arrived.

"Ant-man convinced me that ants are a valuable asset in trip wires and such." Hawkeye said with a shrug.

"Hnn." Batman said and he turned away from the two teenagers.

* * *

Batman had Hawkeye report back to the Mount and let her fellow teammates know of her wellbeing and whereabouts.

Hawkman slapped a hand on her back in congratulations, and she winced, barely hiding it. Batman however did notice; as did Red Arrow.

Both narrowed their eyes at her and after looking at them, shook her head, and walking carefully, left the scene for the nearest Zeta-tube teleport.

It didn't take her long, but it did take her longer than she thought. Because by the time that she entered the Mount:

~"Recognized: Hawkeye, B 06."~

She faced off against Kaldur, Conner, Batman, Zatanna, Black Canary, M'gann, Wally, and Robin… And of course, Red Arrow.

"I'm here. I'm safe. I'm fine."

"No you're not." Conner said glaring lightly at her knowing how high her pain threshold was and how well she was able t play off the most serious of injuries.

Red Arrow didn't feel bad for telling her teammates what had happened to her out in the field, but what happened in his apartment was told in confidence.

"Nice Try Artemis…." Wally said walking up to her, "but we know that you're in pain."

"Who says I'm in pain?" Hawkeye asked stubbornly.

"I do." Red Arrow and Batman said simultaneously.

"I'll take her to the infirmary." M'gann volunteered.

Hawkeye's eyes widened at her momentarily before she nodded and followed her.

Zatanna turned to follow as well, but Black Canary and Red Arrow stopped her.

"Give them a moment." Red Arrow said.

* * *

As they walked toward the infirmary, M'gann started talking.

"Does Conner really treat you like a sister?"

Hawkeye looked at her carefully. "He told you that we have no intimate feelings toward one another besides amity, right?" She verified.

"Yes, he did… But I still- I mean I-"

"Believe me M'gann… Conner and I butt heads more than most… We both have dominant personalities… And being in the other Universe for so long with only one another to depend on developed a sort of bond and inadvertently, it made our process of fighting more simplified and condensed… Our sparring sessions are more like all out brawls…"

"Didn't you ever wonder if there was a chance that you would never be able to come back?" M'gann asked, concerned.

"Sure we did." Hawkeye said, removing her cowl, as they continued to walk; "but it didn't do us any good to be FINE about it…"

"I don't understand." M'gann said confused. "I thought you said you were worried about it and then you said you were fine about it?" She looked at Artemis, and had to admit, that since returning, Artemis hadn't encroached romantically on Conner… But still, why would Artemis be fine about the thought of never being able to return home?

"Huh? Oh! No! Not Fine, fine… F.I.N.E.. It's an excerpt from one of our favorite movies in the other Universe… FINE stands for: "Freaked Out, Insecure, Neurotic, and Emotional… F.I.N.E."

"How did you deal with it?" M'gann asked as they entered the infirmary. A quick scan revealed that Artemis had some cracked ribs, and they lifted her top to place the bandage.

"We adjusted. We fit the training we'd received to the situation we found ourselves in. In the end it turned out alright…"

Artemis looked up and exchanged a small smile with M'gann. "It did turn out all right didn't it? Conner asked you out?"

"How much coaching did it take?" M'gann asked, a Mona Lisa smile crossing her lips in return. Apparently, things were well on their way to being healed over and the team wouldn't suffer from misplaced anger and jealousy anymore.

Artemis took this as a good sign between Conner and M'gann. "I promised not to reveal…" Artemis said, replacing her cowl and pulling down her uniform top.

"So, why is it that the original Hawkeye threatening to take on the Hulk was so funny?" Kaldur asked Conner as they entered the infirmary.

Conner didn't answer, but he and Artemis shared a smirk. They had to have M'gann show some of their select memories of the Avengers and their adventures.

"How are your ribs Artemis?" Kaldur asked, turning to her.

"Sore, but I'm… Okay."

"Is everything fine?" Robin asked, stepping around Conner.

M'gann and Artemis shared a look before exclaiming among their almost hysterical laughter: "Far from it!"

* * *

Well? what'd you think?! =D Please let me know!


	3. Chapter 3

Artemis was sparring with Kaldur in the gym under the tutelage of Black Canary and her League predecessor, Wonder Woman. The session had started mildly enough, with both Artemis and Kaldur exchanging mild blows that were easily blocked; but upon the encouragement of Black Canary, the sparring session was turning out to be harder than Kaldur was used to.

Wonder Woman and Black Canary had offered little to no advice in regard to their spar, in fact, Artemis had noted, when her line of sight afforded, the interest of the two adult superheroes in the moves that she employed against Kaldur.

When Kaldur executed a move poorly, Artemis stopped the spar.

"You alright Kaldur? You're slowing down."

"No wonder." Wonder Woman said, "you two have been at this for nearly two and a half hours."

Artemis paused to consider this and nodded conceding. She walked over to the side of the mat where she'd placed her things earlier. She handed Kaldur two bottles, one was labeled H2O and the other wasn't labeled.

"One's to douse with, and one's to drink." She said by means of an explanation.

Black Canary and Wonder Woman looked at one another in surprise. What was in the other bottle?

He opened the cap and poured some on his hand, the effect made him look up shocked, "Seawater?"

Artemis threw a happy smirk at her team leader. "Unpolluted Seawater."

Kaldur took Artemis at her word and dumped the other bottle on top of his head. "Your understanding of Atlantean biology is interesting." Kaldur said once the seawater bottle was emptied.

"I met a King of Atlantis in the other Dimension."

"What was he like?"

"Arrogant, Proud, Unbending, Annoying, Charismatic, Strong-Willed, Gentle, Understanding…"

"King-like?" Kaldur asked to verify.

Artemis rolled her eyes at her team-leader. "Sometimes we had to practically beat the fact that we had to work together into his skull, but we had The Thing to do that for us."

"You act as if you were not just part of one team…" Kaldur said as he sat off to the side of the mat, to drink his normal water.

"Conner and I were mainly tasked with the Avengers." She said, flopping down beside him. She looked to see the Adult Superheroes discussing something between themselves. "But we worked with the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and even S.H.I.E.L.D., when the occasion demanded it."

"I find it interesting, how you and Conner have acclimated back to our Dimension, while being so long and so in depth in that one…"

Artemis considered her response, "In that Dimension, Conner and I were forced to grow up quickly. We didn't have the chance to continue to be teenagers there. We were heroes; people to be looked up to and admired. That requires burdens and sacrifices… We made mistakes, what hero doesn't and does not regret them? But, because we strove, we became better, we understood more, were able to do more, help more, be… more."

"Then, what is it that I see in your eyes that haunts you even today?"

"War." Artemis said succinctly. "We've seen the worst; and Conner and I have no wish to see such an event occur here as well."

"There are always wars, battles- Artemis."

"Not like what we saw." Artemis said gruffly. She stood up suddenly, "I need to cool down before my muscles freeze." She said just as suddenly, and moved to a corner of the workout room and pulled a disk out of her gym-bag that she had snagged on her way over, and put it in the disk-player and played it.

The three others in the room looked over when they heard rhythmic drums, with a distinct African base.

Conner walked into the room then, a thoroughly dissatisfied look on his face as he joined Artemis in her stretches; which upon observing further, were advanced Yoga moves.

"I wonder what happened?" Black Canary asked out loud as she, Kaldur and Wonder Woman walked out of the workout room.

She didn't get her answer.

* * *

Hours after the Justice League Members minus their den-mother left Artemis and Conner were cornered by their teammates as they were making dinner.

"Alright guys." Robin said plopping himself on one of the barstool chairs in the kitchen. "It's story-time! How did you really meet your mentors in the other dimension?"

"Like we said before." Conner said as he removed a casserole from the oven.

"But that was not all." Kaldur said. "There is more to that story than you lead us to believe."

"There's more to all of us than we lead others to believe." Artemis said (unknowingly imitating Sif in her speak) as she tested the thickness of the concoction brewing on the stove.

"How did you react when you first found yourself in that other dimension?" Zatanna asked them.

Artemis and Conner glanced at one another, exchanging a silent non-telepathic conversation, before Artemis opened the fridge and pulled out an extra-large 7-layer dip tray and Conner brought out the chips. They put them in front of their teammates and Artemis added something to her thick concoction on the stove, which by the smell, was chocolaty.

"We were scared. There was no answer on comms, we had no idea where we were-"

"Speak for yourself, I knew we were in the middle of someone's watermelon field." Conner said.

"Quell Droll." Artemis said, sliding Conner a look. "Fortunately, I had some money stashed in my uniform, and we did as we said."

"How much longer Arty?" Conner looked at Artemis' dessert concoction, and dipped a pinky in to taste. It was rich and delicious.

"Another eight to ten minutes Conner."

"Casserole needs to cool for fifteen before the next layer." Conner said back to her.

"Okay. How are the gels doing?" Artemis asked him.

Conner opened the fridge. They were stalling, and their teammates knew it. "They're ready for their final layer."

"Here…" Artemis handed Conner a still warm pitcher of a purple liquid. Behind the door Conner apparently poured the mixture into the "gels" and closed the door with an empty pitcher in hand,

"How long were you in the other dimension before you encountered your mentors?" Zatanna asked.

Artemis spoke up. "We were in the other dimension for a month, before we met them. Not that we didn't meet up with bad guys too, but we stopped them." Artemis said sincerely.

Conner continued. "During that time, we did what we had to, to survive."

"Little to no money, no food, no housing…" Robin said, not liking where this was going. "you stole didn't you?"

"No." Artemis said. "Conner could blend in because of the style of his uniform. But I had three choices: turn to a short life of crime, become a mercenary, or use my skills to gain money legally."

"You chose the third." M'gann said, remembering their conversation.

"Conner went to the Library and read as many books as he could about the time and the area that we were in. I, with what little money I had, involved myself with an archery club and bet on targets."

"You bet on yourself? While in uniform, didn't that give things away?"

"After a fashion… Conner'd found some clothes at a thrift store for me to go to work in, so I blended mainly; I was there a week as the 'arrow-girl', retrieving and fixing arrows. But when someone bet that no one could make a certain shot; I told them I could, and bets were made."

"Where did you sleep?" Kid Flash asked.

"With what little money I had, we rented a room for the week, and bought ramen," Artemis said. "By the end of the week, I got a paycheck and I had won a long-shot bet."

"While I was in the Library, I investigated everything I could about Law Enforcement, their Super Heroes, Super Villains, meta-humans, local history, etc. I met a Doctor there, Curt Conners, a geneticist studying the regeneration of lost limbs in amphibians." Conner removed another concoction from the stove, poured it over the casserole and put the casserole back in the oven. "A friend of his wife's, Betty Brandt, was working at the Daily Bugle, and with the white-lie that I was a runaway from an abusive father, I was allowed to work under the table as a photographer."

"He's pretty good too." Artemis said, huge smile across her face.

"I was noticed pretty quickly by the Associate Editor and Chief, Robbie. Within… two weeks' I'd say."

"By that time I was taking bets against my shots and winning, and we moved from the rat-hole and into a better mouse-hole." Artemis said.

"What's the difference?" Robin asked, though he was pretty sure he understood her meaning.

"Less Druggies, better low-income neighbors, less crowded, not as many people screaming abusively in the middle of the night." M'gann, Zatanna, Kid Flash, and Kaldur looked shocked. "You make do." Artemis said shrugging.

"Anyway, with in another week, I was comparing articles of the Bugle and the New York Star, and I saw the same author, for the same piece with two decidedly different views; when Robbie had come up behind me to look at my newest batch of pictures-"

"Where'd you get the camera?" Robin interrupted.

"Artemis saw it in the dumpster, there was dirt and grass in the lens and autofocus; and someone had just tossed it out, vid-card, fresh batteries, case and all." Conner said, a smirk telling that it was a really good camera too.

"We got it clean, no big deal; that's when Conner met with Betty."

"So I was comparing articles, and when Robbie asked what was bothering me, I showed him, and with that, the author was fired and J. Jonah Jameson hired me to take the place of the author." Conner said with pride. "Unfortunately, they were powder-puff and fluff pieces." Conner ruefully admitted.

"Which he was only too glad to ditch when we were taken on by the Avengers." Artemis said with a grin, and an elbow to Conner's ribs.

"So, what happened with the betting thing?"

"Within three weeks, my opponents decided I was too good for my age, and no one would bet against me anymore." Artemis admitted.

"Fortunately, by that time, I was able to make us up some decently convincing backgrounds." Conner said.

* * *

As soon as the dip was gone, they shooed their teammates from the kitchen and finished making dinner and dessert. Forty-five minutes later the rest of the team was called back in.

"This is…." Robin started.

"Wow." Zatanna said looking at the spread.

"Where'd you learn to cook like this?" M'gann asked them.

"The Avengers' A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S. did most of the cooking, but when the mansion power-grid was down, it was up to the team to make dinner." Conner said.

"It didn't help when the Hulk wanted Dinner to be done faster either. Conner had to forcibly remove him from the kitchen a time or six." Artemis said as the team seated themselves around the table.

"So… Continue on with your story." Zatanna said encouragingly.

"What does Jarvis stand for by the way?" Wally asked, gnawing on a piece of jerky.

"Just A Rather Very Intelligent System." Snickering, Artemis and Conner said simultaneously.

"So- how did you meet up with the Avengers?" M'gann asked.

"Like we said before." Artemis said as she dished out the food.

"Details, I need details…" Robin said.

"De tails be on de dog and de cat." Conner said; faking a Jamaican accent.

"And on the donkey." Artemis said smacking her best friend upside his head.

Conner got her point, the other name for a donkey…

"Any way." Artemis said continuing with the story, "I had been promoted from arrow-girl to trainer in the Arrow-range, when I was introduced by the owner to a man called Clint Barton. He was a Master Archer, and he'd heard the tales of my winnings, so he challenged me to a mini-tournament; First one to make all arrows hit the bulls-eye wins."

"And…" Robin asked around a mouthful of casserole, "How did it go?"

"We tied; for four rounds we tied as we upped the stakes and yardage each time. We went from standard Self bows to Recurve, Reflex, Longbow and we were even getting ready to shoot another round but with a Compound bow when Barton was called away on business…"

"I was at the Library, when Two bodies literally crashed into the Metro-Library foyer and hit the ground right in front of me." Conner said. "At that time it took more than a little bit of effort for me to force my temper to settle. But I gathered my books and gritted my teeth and headed out of the Library and into the mass human exodus swarming from the Library and into the street."

"I saw on the news the attack on the Metro-Library, and since I knew that was where Conner was, I dashed there in record time. I found him and slammed him into a deserted alley and tossed him his uniform as I threw on mine." Artemis said, then she noticed that no one besides Wally was eating.

"I know for a fact that the food isn't poisoned." Conner said noticing the same thing.

"If this is poisoned then I'll finish off the rest of it!" Wally offered.

The rest of the team, jolted they'd been truly very interested in their story. Flushing, the team continued eating, their now lukewarm food.

It was surprisingly tasty; what else had changed for their teammates? So, far from their story; their teammates had gone through so much. They were enraptured with their story, and didn't want them to stop telling their tale.

"I encouraged Superboy to go to the Southwest Side of New York; that's where we found most of our victim-I mean criminals." Artemis said a wry grin winding its way across her face. "It didn't take much encouraging. Superboy was spoiling for a fight. I'd noticed over the days that he was more and more antagonistic, easily brought closer to rage. Kind of like how he was Bialyia mission…" She explained to her teammates.

"I was more than antagonistic." Conner said with a mild glare in her direction. "I was purely and essentially feral."

"I… managed… you…" Artemis said; but her tone belied how hard that had been. She wasn't gifted like M'gann was at being a telepath and a psychic. She was just plain old Artemis Crock, daughter of two convicted felons, who had an uncanny knack for shooting arrows and playing the hero. No; she said to herself, not playing the hero; being the heroine that her mother had always wanted her to be.

"Please." Conner said, rolling his eyes at her. "I made things so difficult, I'm surprised that you hadn't channeled Dr. Jill, to manage me."

"It had crossed my mind more than once." Artemis admitted, a mild wince crossing her face at the mention of Dr. Jill; that was a sore point for her. She never admitted it to Conner, but she'd remembered her sessions with Black Canary and she'd, for lack of better terminology, she'd channeled Black Canary and at the same time she'd remembered that the only way she and her sister had ended their fights, had been when their mother had playfully sat on them. So, she'd employed the same tactic with Conner.

Conner looked up, cocking his head to the side at the same time as Kaldur. The entire cave echoed with: 'Red Arrow 18'.

Red Arrow stomped into the room, and singled Artemis out with a hard finger in her direction. "You need to tell me something right now." He demanded.

Taken aback, Artemis nodded slowly. "O-okay."

"Since when are you so adept at espionage and night-watching? And what the heck was with the lisping?!"

Conner and she exchanged startled glances. "Um-"

"Don't put me off." Red Arrow demanded.

"Wasn't trying to." Artemis said, slowly; "you know in the middle of the night when you hear a 'hiss-s'?" She asked, leading both Red Arrow and the rest of the team. "Lisping the 's' changing the 's' into a 'th' quieting speech easily, at least before the hand-signals were perfected and you don't know ours well enough." Artemis said as if the fact was something that should have been quite apparent.

Red Arrow blanched, then flushed.

Conner made Wally clear the plates. It was done in record time, as were the dishes. Sometimes it paid to have a speedster on the team.

Artemis beat a path into the kitchen area and pulled the gels out of the fridge. Conner followed her and pulled an interesting frozen dessert from the freezer.

"Think they'll notice if I put some hot-sauce in Wally's?" Artemis asked Conner impishly, after she put a kettle on the stove to boil for tea.

"It would take him about sixteen bites into dessert before his face would turn beet-red from the sudden intake of that XxX Hot-sauce that you're palming…" Conner said, an eyebrow raised, partnered with a slight smirk.

"I'll admit to a little devil on my shoulder …"

"Okay Stark." Conner said, a little laughter in his eyes.

Artemis sent him a deprecating glare; "Like you weren't thinking of it…"

"I'll admit to nothing." Conner said, the smirk growing and the laughter in his eyes got brighter.

Between the two of them, they sliced the frozen dessert; a conglomeration of ice-cream, strawberries, kiwis and vanilla wafers.

Between the berries, ice-cream and wafers of a particular slice of the dessert, Conner and Artemis efficiently took apart the dessert and slathered XxX between the slices, just enough so it wouldn't be seen at the edges, and put it back together seamlessly.

With a wicked grin, Conner took the conglomerated dessert and passed out various slices of the untainted dessert to the rest of their team, saving the particular slice with Hot-sauce just for Wally.

Conner headed back into the kitchen just as they heard a yelp and a concerned "Wally?!" from M'gann. The two of them held their laughter for as long as they could, but when Robin poked his curious head in the kitchen, they couldn't help it.

They laughed so hard that their knees couldn't hold them, and they grasped pathetically at the counter, tears of laughter obscuring their vision.

"What's with them?" They heard Zatanna asked Robin.

"I'm not the world class detective Batman is, but I think we just found our culprits." Robin said dryly, indicating Artemis and Conner.

Between hoots of laughter, Artemis gasped out: "Too bad… That the evidence…. Is… Gone!"

"Poor Wally is in the bathroom." M'gann said, walking into the kitchen.

"The evidence has resurfaced!" Conner belted out in between his own whoops of laughter.

They shared a look before they tried to calm their laughter.

"Professional Liars they ain't." Robin told Zatanna and M'gann.

That pulled out another round of laughter. Only because they more than likely could pull out all the stops on that stint. They ended up curled on the floor hopeless in their laughter.

"Were they exposed to Joker gas?" They heard the dark tones of their overseer.

That question only made them laugh harder before their laughter finally petered off.

"So, who want the real dessert?" Conner asked, laughter made the monotone question absolutely ridiculous; and that alone pulled more laughter out of them.

Quivering from laughter, Artemis pulled out the whipped cream from the fridge and Conner pulled out a small pack of jellybeans from a back pocket, and on top of each dollop of whipped cream a single jelly-bean made the peak.

Spoons were pulled from the utensil drawer and placed alongside each gel-filled glass. The Gels as they called them, were multi-colored gelatins topped with whipped cream and a jelly-bean.

At first they'd made too much, as they usually did. As it turned out, they'd made just enough gels; even Batman got one. Which, amazingly, he ate.

Conner and Artemis shared a wicked smile as Wally walked sulkily into the kitchen.

"Man, not cool."

Artemis bit her lips hard, trying to force back the humor she felt at her and Conner's prank.

M'gann telekinetically brought the last gel over to Wally, who petulantly ate the gelatinous delicious dessert.

Conner had the same look of with-held laughter on his face, except he pounded his fist into his thigh to take his mind off the humor of the situation; and after he processed the pain, he cleared his throat; deciding to continue the story for his teammates, and Batman who, despite the report they'd given, wanted all the details.

"Artemis and I had just taken down another one of the criminals that had escaped from one of the four super-criminal prisons… We'd handed him off to the police, only to get cornered by the misunderstanding of all heroes, right before the team-up."

"His name wasn't important enough to remember, and to be honest, I was concerned about keeping Superboy from beating him to a pulp in the battle before we handed him over to the New York Police. I do remember however, that he looked absolutely petulant that two teenage-children took him down and not the Avengers…"

Artemis made herself a cup of hot white Chinese tea. As much as she liked making desserts, she didn't like eating them so much. She admitted to herself, that thanks to her training over their seven year stint in the Avenger Universe, she'd been 'programmed' to make but not eat. Once you wore the tights, especially if you were female, you didn't eat anything fried or overly sweet. There were times that she did have something deliciously sinful, but they were rare and far in-between.

Conner opted for a glass of mineral water and a squirt of lime juice.

"These taste different than the ones I've made…" Zatanna said, looking into the depths of her gel glass, as if just looking at it would discern its secrets.

"They're not quite as sweet as I remember…" Robin said, a frown crossing his domino mask.

"There's a reason for that…" Conner said.

Batman raised an eyebrow; "Then what's the reason?"

"We use 100% fruit juice in the mix; 25% hot juice with 25% hot water, and 35% cold juice and 15% ice water."

"That's pretty exact." M'gann said.

"We had some time…" Conner said with a smirk.

"Enough with changing the subject." Zatanna said. "What was really going on with the two of you in the other dimension?"

"Nothing really went-" Artemis started to say.

"That's not what she's asking." Red Arrow interrupted her denial of romance across the ranks. He knew that the two of them had no feelings between one another besides close friendship. "You have a look in your eyes that only some of the senior members of the League have…" Red Arrow said, concern crossing his features. "Like some of the War Veteran's I've seen, your eyes show that you've seen too much… What changed for you?"

Conner and Artemis shared a distinct look. They knew that that question had been coming; and they knew the answer that the question demanded.

"Fear." They said together succinctly.

Batman looked taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"There's one thing that's constant." Artemis started, sharing a concerned look with Conner. They'd seen this back in the Avenger dimension, with the X-Men, even with the Hulk.

"What people don't understand they fear." Conner said stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"And what people fear, they act out against." Artemis said with a halting sigh.

"You said you saw war…" Aqualad led them into their story monologue.

"We did. The best and the worst that humanity and meta had to offer."

"When did that happen?" M'gann asked.

It seemed to dawn on them, and they mentally swore at Kang. They suddenly realized that the boon, the gift that Kang and Ravonna had given them was a glimpse of the future if something had suddenly changed in the differing opinions of the leaders of the Super Heroes.

"Change brings fear in more than one way." Batman said. Unnoticed by all except Batman, Artemis and Conner; Black Canary stepped quietly into the room.

"What we saw never actually happened." Conner admitted. "It took us a while to realize. It was more like how we were with the whole bad to worse simulation…"

"It scared the crap out of us." Artemis admitted. "Everything we knew, not only about our own universe, but also about our adopted universe… Everything was turned upside-down and sideways. The only thing that hadn't changed were the civilians."

"Our Mentors had seemingly, overnight turned against one another. One side was the Hero Registration Act, and on the other were just the Heroes who wanted to save lives and do good but keep their friends and family safe. We did all we could to mend fences between them…" Conner said. "Nothing worked…" He forced a hand through his hair. "They wanted us to choose…"

"With one side and/or against the other." Artemis said. "We took choice 3. We didn't work with S.H.I.E.L.D. or those with the H.R.A., we didn't work against the Heroes who wanted to keep their identities secret; it was always a temporary team-up. We worked for the citizens that couldn't work for themselves. We helped the people."

"We were suddenly the only full-time Heroes in the tri-state area. We removed all traces of the identification we'd developed. We were always on call, not even our predecessors could claim that, for four years we had no personal lives; we got hurt, we broke; emotionally, physically. We lost people, children; we were a small island crushed in-between two massive hurricanes." Conner stated.

"And then, one morning, nothing." Artemis said. "No one but Conner or I remembered the War; and it was a brutal war, it was a 'Civil' War between Heroes, and no one but we remembered; the war had lasted years. But not the papers, not the mystics, and not even the most powerful psychic had evidence of it."

"For the rest of the world, the Civil War between heroes never happened. Between one night and the next morning, we experienced four years of a war that made the Revolutionary War look like a Kindergarten scuffle in comparison." Conner said.

"We tried to tell our mentors, but after a while, we decided to keep the information to ourselves."

There was silence in the room, Black Canary was shaken; was that how things would be for them, if whoever was pulling the strings had their way? It was almost too horrible to imagine, it was too horrible to recount and yet, these two children, adults in teenage bodies had seen and been a part of something that the Leaguers had never had to go up against.

Wally had to break the tension in the room somehow. So, he found a bottle of hot-sauce in the cupboard labeled XxX and with Artemis being none the wiser squirted some in her tea, before replacing the bottle leaving no trace evidence.

Artemis raised her tea to her lips, and Wally edged forward, eager for the retribution. It never came; Artemis set down her tea, Conner picked it up and dumped it in the sink as she stalked toward Wally.

"It'll take more than that." She smirked in his face. "That was so Kindergarten. Let me know when you graduate to true pranks College style."

"Of which Artemis and I are fully versed in…" Conner said smirking.

Robin cackled as he realized that this time it would be a full-on prank war, and that Wally was about to get 'educated' by two Masters. He couldn't wait for it to begin.

Batman looked between the two; he was sure that they had been through trials, but nothing of that magnitude. As he made his way from the room, he contemplated their situation. There were times when their mental age came into play, already they had worked with other members besides their own team, they could take orders, and they more than definitely were able to adapt to different situations relatively well…

But one thing was true, as they said: 'Change brings fear'. Batman could only wonder how the team would take the changes of two of their members when on an actual mission.


End file.
